Scanning Dilema

[Batt91]

I am rather new to the fantastic weatlh of knowledge this site contains, but I would like to pose a question to determine my best course of action. I am a firefighter and an avid railfan. I am in the market for a trucktracking scanner, specifically the BC246T or the BR330T (I like the tone-out option), but I am a little confused about whether the trucktracking option will interfere with trying to listen to railroads (VHF) at the same time. I consulted one of my captains who has a 330, but most of what I was asking him went right over his head. I later learned he had the county radio tech program his 330 for him. The sidebar to this question is I have considered getting a VX150 or like ham radio to do the railroad monitoring. Penny for your thoughts?

 

[CLTX11]

If you are monitoring a trunked system I believe the fire tone out on the 330 is useless, only can use the tone out option on conventional systems. Also the 330 is discontinued and is a little harder to find.
Both scanners will be able to scan trunked system and conventional systems at the same time. Depending on your location to the RR you are wanting to listen to, your only obstacle is finding the right antenna that would Rx them both if you wanted to monitor at the same time.

Either one of those unidens you end up with you will not be disappointed.
Good luck and welcome to the boards.

 

[ka3jjz]

You cannot use fire tone out and scan (trunked or conventional) at the same time, AFAIK. You can do one or the other, not both. However CLTX is correct that, like most of the modern Unidens, you can scan conventionally and trunk at the same time.

73s Mike

 

[Gooser]

I listen to a trunk system and AAR (rail) freqs scanning on my BC246T.
Works fine

 

[DaveIN]

You cannot use fire tone out and scan (trunked or conventional) at the same time, AFAIK. You can do one or the other, not both. However CLTX is correct that, like most of the modern Unidens, you can scan conventionally and trunk at the same time.

73s Mike

Hmmm... fire tone out, another great reason for Uniden to add a second receiver to a scanner.

By the way, with programable service search on the BCD396D, BCD996T, BCT-15 and BR330T, you can use the RR service search and scan at the same time. Great feature.

 

[Batt91]

Opinion

Thanks for the info, guys. I was pretty sure you could do conventional and trunk at the same time. The tone-outs would be on conventional system. My county put a patch through its main dispatch channel to a static UHF freq (not in the trunk system) that they have used for years in another capacity. This way, all of the out county volunteers could still hear main fire traffic without having to use thier own dept handheld or without buying a trunk tracking scanner.
My situation is this: I live only a few hundred feet from a rail line, but am close enough to a metropolitan area that I would like to hear a lot more of what is going on. I use a SC-150 currently, bought 15 years ago or so. It still does the job for the county stuff (good repeaters), but for the railroads I find it inadequet. I would like to pick up RR from 10-15 miles away with a handheld, thus I was considering the VHF Ham (VX-150). Is this just a dream to be able to pick up signal that far away with a handheld? What do you think is my best option? I know I will be buying a trunk tracking scanner in the near future (which one, I'm not sure yet), but should I also consider the second radio?

 

[SkipSanders]

Range is due to just one thing: Antenna height. Yours, and the transmitter's.

Handheld: 5 feet - Range, 2-4 miles
Other end: RR Ht - 5 feet - Range, 2-4 miles.
Total: 4-8 miles, if no terrain rising up between you.

If the transmitter you're listening to is a base, antenna up on a building, say, 50 feet up:
Range, 7-14 miles. Total: 9-18 miles. Again, only if there's no hills between you.

Bear in mind the range estimates do not allow for trees, trains, power lines, etc, in the way. They are far more maximums than minimums. Real handheld to handheld ranges usually end up closer to 1-2 miles, in urban terrain.

So, if you really want to listen to stuff that's 10 miles or more away, you want a base antenna mounted on your house at least 25 feet up (5-10 miles) that will get you up above some of the ground clutter.

 

[br0adband]

Of the two, if the Fire Tone Out is important, then obviously the 330T is the better choice. I prefer my 246T because of size and other considerations, but the 330T being a true full coverage scanner (minus cellular of course) is definitely a plus. I'm still shocked Uniden pulled it so quick and discontinued it.

But, you're in luck, if you act fast:

https://www.unidendirect.com/itemdetail.cfm?item=B-BR330T&tabid=1

They still have some, and the price is fantastic. Better grab one quick.